Dispatches from the space race

Property’s super-rich see fortunes recover

In 2008 and 2009 the UK’s richest 250 property tycoons saw their combined worth cut from a high of £98bn in 2007 to a mere £69bn.

I’m sure like me you’ve lost a lot of sleep over this.

But relax, plump up the pillows and prepare to lay down your worried head: this year their combined wealth has climbed to £72bn.

Belgravia, Grosvenor Estate

Who, you might wonder, are these super-rich property billionaires. Buy-to-let tycoons? Developers? Sharp-elbowed entrepeneurs who have wheeled and dealed to build up a bricks and mortar fortune?

Nope. According to the Estates Gazette Property Rich List, the wealthiest are old-style aristocrats who own London’s primest ancient estates.

Top of the pile, with a fortune of £6.8bn, is the Duke of Westminster. He owns the Grosvenor estate in London – basically, large swathes of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge.

No wonder he’s minted. Last year his fortune increased by £300 million.

In third comes the Earl of Cadogan, who owns 93 plush acres of Chelsea worth £2.5bn – up £500m.

There are some nouveau riche types though, notably the Reuben brothers in second place. They made billions trading metal in Russia, then set up data company Global Switch, and have invested a fortune in UK property over the past decade.

Last year, their fortune increased by £2.1bn to £5.4bn.

The biggest losers last year were Irish investors and developers. Their property fortunes were devastated by the credit crunch and, as Estates Gazette note, “this year they continue to be hammered.”